


Selling Meowt

by Anonymous



Category: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, M/M, the background characters are pets okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:41:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24001495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Orson's betrayal of Renais and defection to Grado: a modern retelling.
Relationships: Ephraim/Lyon (Fire Emblem)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19
Collections: Anonymous





	Selling Meowt

**Author's Note:**

> Been sitting on this dumb idea for over a year... but yeah there's no time like now for a little bit of cheer, hopefully :')

It’s not that Ephraim hated cats, or was a fervent dog person (he was after all, soft for his boyfriend who loved fostering kittens). He just had a bad feeling when Eirika came home carrying a massive ball of fluff in her arms that happened to be glaring straight at him.

“What,” he said flatly, pointing at the furry, grey mass, “is that?”

His sister scratched the cat behind its ears, cooing, “Meet the newest addition to our family - Orson! He’s quite old, but he’s still very lively and affectionate and needed a new home.” She placed the cat onto the kitchen counter, stroking his back lightly. Orson flicked his tail as he inspected the table’s contents, looking particularly interested in the half-eaten sandwich Ephraim had made.

“Yeah, I’d say this is maybe not the place for him.” Snatching up his sandwich, Ephraim walked over to the back door, holding it open. As if on cue, four furry bodies came barrelling in to greet the girl. Eirika’s previous rescues - Kyle, a Portuguese water dog; Forde and Franz, two labradors Eirika hypothesised came from the same breeder; and Seth, an older German Shepherd - surrounded the counter, peering up and sniffing at the cat, who was staring cautiously back.

“What, you think they’re gonna fight?” Eirika laughed. “No way, these guys are totally chill about him, see? They know how to play nice. They had a wonderful trainer, after all.” She gestured towards her brother.

“Flattery will get you nowhere,” he huffed, but he couldn’t resist a bout of showmanship; whistling and snapping his fingers, he instructed the dogs to settle and lay down on the ground, praising them when they did so. “Besides, you’re forgetting the most important part, you dweeb. You won’t even be here when summer ends. While you’re off to Rausten, I’ll be stuck here feeding and cleaning after _your_ pet.”

“Orson is not just mine, Orson is _ours_ ,” Eirika corrected him. “Just like all of you guys are ours, yes you are!” She knelt down to pet each of the dogs.

“What are you talking about? Kyle and Forde are 100% mine.”

“I’m the one who paid for their adoption fee and shots, butthead.” Hugging the two dogs in question, she stuck out her tongue at her twin. “Besides, I’ll still be here for like what, two months? And don’t forget weekends, breaks, and holidays. Campus is only like an hour away.”

Ephraim opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by their father walking through the kitchen doorway, interjecting, “Alright, what is it about _this_ time?” Almost immediately, he caught sight of Orson, still sat on the counter, idly licking at his paws. Fado turned to Eirika after a few moments of staring, who merely offered a sheepish, “Uh, surprise?”

Shaking his head, he said wearily, “I should have never agreed to let you volunteer at that shelter.” Ephraim snorted at that. _As if_ his dad didn’t enjoy being a dog grandfather, sending the twins photos of him posing with the dogs whenever he stayed home and they were both out. Fado continued, “I trust that you’ll be able to take proper care of it, Eirika.”

“Uh, excuse me, _I_ will be the one actually _here_ to feed that little shit.”

And what a ‘little shit’ Orson turned out to be, at least according to Ephraim. 3am scratches at _his_ door for food. Shedding fur everywhere, including but not limited to the couch, his bean bag chair and bed. Knocking rather fragile objects off of shelves and tables.

“Well, it’s not like you’re a saint to him either,” Eirika said, continuously blind to her pet’s misdeeds. “You keep dragging him away from making friends with the cat across the street. And you don’t feed him right, no wonder he’s absolutely starving at night.”

“I give him a full bowl, twice a day!” Ephraim sputtered.

“Yeah, but he keeps leaving food there. You gotta shake the bowl a few times, otherwise he’ll just see the bottom of the bowl and think there’s no food. I read about it online.”

“There is no way that’s true.” Pulling out his phone, he decided to pose the question to their local cat expert, Lyon. Currently his boyfriend was vacationing in the deserts of Jehanna, participating in archaeological digs with his father. Ephraim never would have imagined history and archaeology to be fun, but he did enjoy seeing the photos sent to him of Lyon shyly holding up his findings to the camera, face flushed from the heat of the sun.

**orson will never be my orSON (3 people):**

**FIGHTsexual:** another question @felyone <3  
 **FIGHTsexual:** sorry for the spam

**paprika** changed the chat name to **Teen Mum Seeks Child-rearing Advice**

**paprika:** Ffs Ephraim stop changing the chat name to that.  
 **FIGHTsexual:** no  
 **FIGHTsexual:** the people deserve to know the truth  
 **felyone:** hey guys ^_^ great timing, we just took a break haha  
 **felyone:** that’s ok Eph, what’s the question?  
 **FIGHTsexual:** is it or is it not bs that a cats pretend their bowl is empty if the bottom is showing  
 **felyone:** ooh, I actually haven’t seen that happening that frequently with the ones I took care of  
 **felyone:** but yes and no  
 **felyone:** it’s more like it’s not comfy for them to push their whiskers up against the bowl edges so they avoid trying to eat from the edges  
 **paprika:** Aww, that doesn’t sound good!  
 **felyone:** so yeah it’s fine if your cat is acting that way  
 **felyone:** maybe switch to serving food on a plate, I do that with Knoll  
 **felyone:** and if that doesn’t help maybe consider switching brands or to wet food :)  
 **paprika:** Thank you for the advice, Lyon!  
 **felyone:** you’re welcome… teen mum (;  
 **FIGHTsexual:** babe please come back and save me from this satanic cat  
 **FIGHTsexual:** Eirika blatantly denies it but he is evil  
 **felyone:** only about 6 weeks to go  
 **felyone:** I believe in you Ephraim, soldier on <3  
 **felyone:** it’s just quite different to taking care of a dog and Orson seems a bit more fussier than a normal cat but it’ll resolve itself soon  
 **FIGHTsexual:** <3

True to Lyon’s word, it eventually became easier to deal with the newest addition to their family. In the span of those six weeks, Ephraim’s feelings about the cat evolved from disgruntlement to begrudging respect and (he would never admit this to Eirika) affection. Orson gradually mellowed out as he adjusted to living in his new home, and Ephraim gradually learnt how to better deal with felines and their seemingly nonsensical behaviour, with advice from his boyfriend. 

The young man thought idly one day, laying on the couch with Orson curled up next to him, dozing, that perhaps sometime in the future he could love the cat as much as he loved Seth, Kyle, Forde, and Franz. After all, it had been difficult at first for each of the other rescues to adjust. Seth kept trying to herd them to safety from a non-existent danger, Kyle and Franz took to following them everywhere, including the bathroom; Forde loved to create ‘works of art’ such as muddy pawprints on the walls and floor. And yet Ephraim could not imagine a life without them.

Soon, summer came to an end, and it was time for Eirika to pack up and leave for Rausten University, joining her friend L’arachel. Ephraim had opted to stay to complete his course in Renais College instead, joined by Lyon, who was arriving that day to see Eirika off.

“Got everything with you?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Eirika replied, zipping open her suitcase to double-check anyway.

Ephraim waved his hand. “Don’t worry about it. Whatever you left behind, I can just drive out and give it to you,” he offered.

Eirika nodded, and squatted down to pat the dogs and Orson. “I’m gonna miss you guys,” she said quietly. Jumping up, she pulled Ephraim into a bone-crushing hug. “And I guess I’ll miss your dumb face too,” she teased, sniffling a little. Ephraim couldn’t help but also feel a little emotional. It was pretty much the first time ever that the siblings would be separated.

A knock on the front door startled the pair, breaking apart their hug. Knowing full well who it was, Ephraim rushed to open it, revealing his smiling boyfriend. Ephraim tugged Lyon inside by his hands, forcing a yelp from the startled man. The door slammed shut behind them.

Cupping his boyfriend’s face in his hands, Ephraim leaned forward to plant a kiss on his lips, Lyon shyly reciprocating. The purple haired youth parted his lips a little, allowing Ephraim to deepen the kiss. A few moments passed before the two reluctantly ended the kiss, stopping for air and to attend to the gathering of curious dogs at their feet. “Hey,” Ephraim breathed out, smiling dopily, as Franz kept nudging him in the leg.

Lyon bent down to pat Seth's head; though he never voiced it, Ephraim knew that Seth was his favourite due to his calm demeanor and protective tendencies. “Hey yourself,” he replied, smiling softly. He turned his attention from Seth to a whining Forde, scratching him behind the ears.

“Thought for sure you were gonna leave me for a mummy, with how long you've been gone.”

Lyon laughed. “There are no mummies in Jehanna, silly.” He straightened up and approached Ephraim again, whose arms reached out to automatically snake around his waist. “I missed you a lot,” he said, wrapping his arms around Ephraim's shoulders and kissing him again. 

It was Eirika's time to approach, dragging her suitcases behind her. “Oh, get a room, you too,” she scoffed, though her expression was one of amusement.

“Eirika!” Lyon beamed and separated from his boyfriend to hug her. “I missed you too. Don't be a stranger in Rausten, okay?”

“Of course not, I'm only an hour away if you ever wanna hang out. Ooh! I believe you have someone to meet.” She ran out of the room, returning with a wriggling Orson in her arms. “Man, you’re a bit squirmy today. What’s up with you, buddy?” She frowned, depositing the cat onto the floor.

Lyon’s eyes lit up. “Oh hello there. You must be Orson.” He squatted down to greet the cat, who eagerly approached him, butting his head against his legs and purring. Lyon ran his hand down Orson’s fur, laughing in delight. “I thought you said your cat was evil?” he asked, teasing his boyfriend.

“We settled our differences.”

“I’ve never seen him act this friendly before though,” Eirika mused. “Well, I really gotta go now, I can literally feel vibrations from L’arachel spam-texting me to pick her up.” Ephraim and Lyon followed her outside, Lyon still holding and petting Orson, while the turquoise-haired teen helped his sister load up the car.

“Lyon, make sure this one doesn’t skip out on any lectures,” Eirika said sternly from the open car window, igniting the gas and pointing at her brother.

“Hey!” Ephraim said, indignant, while Lyon chuckled.

“And Eph, make sure Lyon doesn’t just stay inside all the time, take him to some parties.”

It was Lyon’s turn to groan.

Following Eirika’s departure, the two went back indoors, following a familiar routine of laying on opposite ends of the sofa, legs entangled, attempting to seek some form of entertainment from daytime television. It was during this ritual when the pair was interrupted by Orson running in, who, to Ephraim’s surprise, jumped on the couch and _willingly_ curled himself into Lyon’s lap, purring.

“Damn,” he said. “I’ve never seen that happen before. I mean, even Eirika has to manhandle him to cuddle with her.”

Lyon shrugged. “Maybe I just smell like cat food? I did feed Knoll before I came over.”

“By that logic, you’d smell like Knoll too. I thought cats didn’t like the smell of other cats?”

“That sometimes happens.” The cat purred even louder, settling his head against Lyon’s stomach and kneaded at his legs.

“God I wish that were me.” Ephraim never thought he’d be this jealous of a cat (admittedly, they do live good sleep-filled, worry-free, crippling student debt-free lives) but… he’s been there before. It’s a god-tier napping spot. “But seriously, he really likes you.”

“And he’s really warm too,” Lyon replied, petting the dozing cat, his own eyelids drooping. Ephraim lowered the TV volume accordingly, letting the pair drift off to sleep.


End file.
